The druid looked at her groaning, his burned fur never smelled fouler. Grinding his maw, he morphed back to a human. In his eyes, she looked familiar. Her magic brought his memories, of the day she whipped the forest with his circle. The witch of Inferno, Zaleria Shadowend.

“Girl, what is your relationship with that witch?” His finger writhed as he pointed it at her.

[Firebolt] Sofia launched her spell at him, roaring across the air.

His hand quickly turned into a wiggling snake, deflecting the spell as if it was a kid’s ball. “Zaleria, What are you to her?” He groaned, as he got impatient, he had never heard of her taking a student but it was dangerous.

To Sofia, that name seemed familiar but she knew nothing about it. Zaleria? She has never known someone with that name. Her face contorted with rage, Cain was pushing himself to fight this thing.

Cain on the other hand knew the name very well. It was that of the witch that enslaved him, he has to be wary of what he will say, as she knows to keep secrets. “That hag Shadowend? I bet your comrades got roasted well.” Cain’s words came as a surprise to the druid. Why did he know about her but not the girl?

“I don’t want to mess with the witch, drop your weapons and I will retreat.” Half of his words were lies, he had dropped his guard and taken two direct hits from Sofia.

—————————————————————————————————–

First-tier

[Druidcraft]

[Produce flame]

[Shillelagh]

[Entangle]

[Longstrider]

[Speak with animals]

[Thunderweave]

[Beast bond]

[Animal friendship]

Second-tier

[Animal messenger]

[Barkskin]

[Beast Sense]

[Summon Beast]

[Spike growth]

Third-tier

[Conjure Animals]

[Plant growth]

[Speak with plants]

[Water breathing]

Fourth-tier

[Blight]

[Dominate Beast]

[Giant Insect]

[Grasping Vine]

[Polymorph]

Fifth-tier

[Insect Plague]

[Commune with Nature]

[Geas]

[Cane arts] The art of fighting with a cane. As ancient as the human race, it was the art of hitting with a stick.

[Beast mind] Understanding how to move in a beast’s body.

——————————————————————————–

Cain has taken this time to analyze the Druid. ‘He was using the polymorph spell to transform into animals and fight. Even though it’s a fourth-tier spell, with the druidic training getting to a low cost is possible in exchange for duration or stability.

He groaned, nothing in the stats could help him beat this druid. Yet there was a strand of hope, Sofia was there, she could take the druid’s eyes from him. Cain quickly moved to her side, “Can you distract him for a moment?” He whispered. Sofia nodded in approval.

The druid, named Alaric, saw them talking. He thought they wanted to discuss the matter of Zaleria. Tightly clenching his hand on the wooden cane, he thought back to the mission he was given.

Kill the white-haired adventurer and steal the dungeon core he is hiding. This mission wasn’t something he wanted to accept, it was forced upon their circle by Ourals lord. That arrogant bastard wanted to sell the forest to a witch, meaning that his brethren are going to be driven out. That accursed witch wasn’t Zaleria, it was her elder sister Morena.

Despite Zaleria beating their whole tribe in the past, she only did it as they intruded on her territory. Now when he looks at the eyes of the girl in front of him, he could see the same ruby flame burning in them. They have already drawn Morena’s wrath, they can’t afford to offend Zaleria as well who was benevolent enough to spare their lives.

If possible, he wishes to not harm the girl. Since the white-haired guy seems to know Zaleria’s full name which she kept a secret from them for years, he might have had close ties to her.

Alaric spat on the ground, with this their mission had gone with the smoke. There was no reason for getting the forest just to have it burned to a crisp by Zaleria later for harming her acquaintances.

Can they even negotiate with Morena for a plot of land? That accursed witch is known to dabble in demonic magic and devil curses, their best bet would be to ask Zaleria for another favor. Alaric shook the thought from his head. Zaleria and Morena never see face to face, whenever they meet it is a blood bath. Asking Zaleria to talk with Morena is the same as spitting in her face. She would burn them before her sister.historical

“Listen, I’m serious. I’d rather give up on the mission than anger the Inferno witch.” Alaric could remember the last time those two fought, it was about 30 years ago. His father died in the collateral damage caused. Zaleria the Inferno witch and Morena the necromancer. Those dammed hags are still looking young and oozing with power even after all those years.

He looked in front of him. Sofia had already disappeared. “Where did..” He could hear his ribs crack like old bread, a faint sizzling sound followed after. [Polymorph: Rhino] His body quickly changed to absorb the shock before he would suffer fatal damage.

The ruckus has drawn an audience; they were in the middle of the city after all. Women in their nightgowns stared from the windows, men who looked as messy as dogs peeked their heads from the doors, and children screamed. “Someone call the guards, it’s a fight!”

Cain looked around. This was a double-edged sword. Depending on how he looks, he could be painted as the villain or the hero. If people saw him as a hero, his reputation will increase and he might be able to use it in the future. On the other hand, as a villain he will be detested and driven out, even William won’t be able to quell the will of the people if they saw Cain as a villain.

“I, Cain Lisworth will exterminate this abomination!” He lifted a finger to the sky, drawing everyone’s attention, “Take the judgment of the gods!” He added [Call Lightning] With the rumbling of thunder, a flash of lightning struck the ground near the rhino. Most people watching are regular civilians who know nothing about magic, deceiving them like this would be easy. Even if there was a mage there, it wasn’t that likely for them to recognize third-tier magic.

Their mouths stretched open as they saw the divine lightning smite the ground, The flash illuminating the strange beast. Even if Cain and the druid know that a Rhino is, a villager who lived here his whole life could only recognize it as a monster.

What took their eyes next was the flash of red light in the dark. Those red and golden flames sparked as Sofia backed away from the druid charge.

Roar! The druid morphed again, transforming into a majestic eagle and flying to the sky.

“You won’t run!” Cain screamed [Fly] [Thunder step] Clap! Thunder clapped as he flew behind the running bird, the people only managed to follow his movement thanks to Sofia looking up.

“QUACK! You persistent hog!” The eagle grotesquely transformed into an alien-like aquatic monster, its appearance made everyone’s stomach turn. It was an octopus, a massive one enough to grab both Cain and Sofia with its tentacles.

“You even reached the sea? Where is your brain?” Cain asked a question that he was certain that the druid didn’t know its answer to. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have grabbed him.

Alaric wanted to throw Cain and Sofia far away to get a chance to escape. What he missed is that an octopus is just a giant muscle. [Enchanting: Electric discharge]

The Octopus’s body spazzed violently as a sweet smell filled the air.

In an instant, the monster disappeared and a single cat tried to make a run for it. Cain who was about to give chase realized that Sofia was caught as well and she was zapped. He quickly flew and caught her before she could crash to the ground.

“Where did he go?” She asked surprising Cain. ‘Was he serious?’ There was only one explanation for why she wasn’t zapped, the druid protected her.

Cain started reconsidering what he did, was it the right decision to listen and not to fight? “He ran away, I already lost track of his Magic!” Cain shook his head answering her question, the fight seems to be over.

Suddenly they started to hear cheering, and screaming. Mixed a bit with cursing from the people whose property was wrecked.

“Hey, young’un. What was that?” An old man asked.

“I could swear I saw more than one monster!” A man who looked in his thirties called

“The fu*k did you do to my barrels!” A middle-aged man with broken teeth and messed beard screamed.

“Mommy, that old man was flying!” A little kid screamed.

“Honey get inside, you’re half-naked!” A man yelled as he dragged his wife away from the window. She was only wearing a translucent nightgown, “Cain, I want one of those!” Sofia said immediately, and Cain wasn’t even looking in that direction.

“Let’s head back first before the guards come, I hope Leon would be able to deal with this tomorrow!” Cain said as he grabbed Sofia’s hand and rushed back.

‘To think I will hear Zaleria’s name this early, I hope the timeline isn’t going to get messed up too much!’